A growing lobby of churchmen and religious experts are challenging the speed with which the Vatican is propelling Pope John Paul II towards sainthood, just six years after his death.
Hailed
as the pope who helped bring down communism, who prayed alongside Jews
and Muslims, and shrugged off an assassination attempt, John Paul will
be beatified in St Peter's Square next Sunday, a first step towards
sainthood.
The Vatican is erecting tent cities and stocking up
with millions of bottles of water. More than 300,000 people are expected
to descend on Rome to honour the Polish pontiff whose charisma gave Catholicism a new lease of life.
But
as the crowds begin to arrive, doubts are being expressed over the
decision to begin beatification proceedings for John Paul immediately
after his death in 2005, instead of observing the usual five-year
waiting period.
Some experts are questioning whether John Paul is
fit for sainthood at all, pointing to his poor record in handling the
sex abuse allegations against priests that came to the fore during his
26-year papacy.
"I oppose this beatification and predict history will
look unkindly on John Paul, who was in denial as the worst crisis since
the Reformation happened in the church," said Father Richard McBrien, a
theology professor at Notre Dame University in the US.
"My doubts
are about John Paul being beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict,"
said the Catholic historian Michael Walsh. "It appears incestuous and
akin to the habit of deifying one's ancestors."
Even as Benedict
faced the fallout from accusations that scores of priests abused
children around the world, he has pulled out the stops to beatify John
Paul.
Sorting through hundreds of miraculous cures attributed to the
pontiff, Vatican officials have selected the overnight recovery from
Parkinson's disease of a French nun as the miracle required for
beatification.
Experts believe canonisation could follow in two to three
years.
"Years from now people may be saying, why the rush?" said
Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author. "It takes a little bit
away for future generations." Tom Reese, a theologian and author, added:
"What we need are fewer popes and priests beatified, and more real
lives."
The ramifications of the sex abuse scandal will continue
as an internal Vatican report on predator priests in Ireland reportedly
lands on Benedict's desk, ahead of the publication next month of an
Irish government report on the scandal. It is expected that the report
will shed light on whether the abuse was ignored by Bishop John Magee of
Cloyne, a former private secretary to John Paul.
John Paul's unwavering support for Marcial Maciel Degollado,
the Mexican priest and morphine addict who ran the powerful Legion of
Christ movement, has also sparked concerns.
Maciel has been accused of
abusing seminarians, fathering up to six children and allegedly
pacifying the Vatican through large donations, despite complaints about
his behaviour dating back to the 1970s.
Supporters of the pope
have argued that John Paul was wary of sex abuse accusations after
seeing communist officials use fake charges to discredit priests in his
native Poland.
But Walsh said there was no excuse with the Legion. "John
Paul clearly safeguarded Maciel," he said.
Benedict was quick to banish
Maciel to a life of penitence in 2006 after his election as pope.
Those
voicing reservations over John Paul's beatification are very much in a
minority. Martin
said: "Among church insiders there is a sense of the
perceived haste over the beatification, but it's a small concern among
ordinary believers. The Vatican is often criticised for not responding
to the will of the people, but here you can argue it is doing just
that."
Visitors to his simple marble tomb are convinced John Paul
is worthy of beatification.
"He had courage, look at how he forgave the
man who shot and wounded him in St Peter's Square in 1981," said Olivier
de Pommery, a banker from Paris.
"Through his own illness at the end of
his life he taught us to live and suffer with love," said Marie Louise
Murebwayire, from Rwanda.
"He made suffering become love and gave
dignity to all people who suffer."
Following his beatification,
John Paul's remains will be moved to a large, ornate chapel near the
entrance to St Peter's Basilica.
The tomb of a 17th-century pope,
Innocent XI, will be moved to make space.